hi viper and all

i note your previous experience as a junior - this can only be a good thing.

as usual, slavi is on the ball with his response. (Slavi - i admit to not checking the latest Hungarian rankings i missed your name in them - it was not that long ago you were playing your first tournament - well done!!)

i have written a short article which i hope answers your question. it is sure to create some discussion!

Catch it here

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I played intensive squash in my teens and I guess through sheer practice and  innate ball/racket skills I hit it pretty well without ever had a lesson, it was similar with golf, but I came unstuck big time  with skiing  It has taken a long road and many lessons to become an advanced skier, my god it is a difficult sport, I do not think anyone is a natural at snow skiing !

I am nothing special at squash, a good player but nothing more, I do however want to become a "single figure" squash player in golfing terms.

Like golf I have never had trouble with stroking, timing or footwork or touch but I will be interested to see what a coach will pick up on, maybe tactics and consistancy I would guess.

viper

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Wow, we did rock that place a bit, Viper, nope?
Well, excuse approved and appreciated :-)

Coming to your questions – open racket does not mean by any sense slicing the ball. It's not the drop shot from any place for the whole game I assume. As I am guessing, "open racket" means the less power you use, the higher on the front wall ball hits and deeper in the back corners dies...
Actually, I know the Junior player using open racket technique all the time... It's strange to watch, but the boy beats more experienced players. And everybody "wows" on his strokes as it looks pretty strange.

Hit the bal early does not mean "hit when it's 20 inches above the floor :-) neither. In my opinion it means, volley as much as you can, moving efficiently around the T with the open "stance" (read about it in the Library) ... As I've read about your level I'd guess you can hit good balls, so if you need the coach, you should master your footwork and efficiency of movement on court. Then you will find your game excellent. Though I found it a bit funny you've never been coached. IMHO, squash is too much technique oriented sport to let it go it's own way as usually people do regarding football, swimming, bowling and different "Sunday sports".
I decided to take serious lessons with pro coach after 8 months of "playing"/ " pretending to play" / running wild in the court like the rooster with captivated head... And one colleague told me to take lessons or I will never learn this game.
It was 18 months ago. 4 months ago I did join national ranking, I am pretty decent and respected player on any tournament. Not anymore the underdog or the "armade meat" as we call it here. Nobody from my previous camerades wants to play with me anymore as I beat them easily without breaking a sweat; Thanks to Rita/ Ray whom I met around year ago I did learn a lot of new valuable things as well and improved skills furter and... I am still not there yet ;-(

But it's not your case thanks god. You started long time ago, you bacame already good player, now you need to polish few aspects and you can join PSA 100 ;-)

Cheers!

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"if they don't emphasize open face racket , hitting the ball early where possible, and open style footwork,  give them a miss!"

 

Now this is a very interesting statement, please explain further Ray.

1. Open racket face ?

- I have noticed this style in the current pros, I am guessing but open racket does not actually translate to hitting the ball with a slice, am I right ? If so open racket at set up is for what purpose ? Also is this style fairly new ?

2. Hit the ball early

- I presume that is about catching your opponent out of step, yes ?

3. Open footwork ?

- Not sure about this one......

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hi viper

good to see you are going to take the plunge and get coached.
while it might not help you now, one of our hopes for squashgame.info is that we will have heaps of coaches listed in our directory and on our squash websites. we will be starting to promote same very soon!

depending on where you live in sydney, if south you would do a lot worse than greg middelton at premier squash - a very good coach. at willoughby talk to ian aitken - he usually has good coaches at his centre. they should have decent coaches at thornliegh - it is the state squash centre. at roselands john amer should be able to help you out even though he might be getting a bit long in the tooth (like me). - tell them i sent you and tell them to register on our website!!

if you find someone else - i hope it works out - if they don't emphasize open face racket , hitting the ball early where possible, and open style footwork,  give them a miss!

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Hi Viper and Slavi - Now boys calm down.
Now picking the bones out of what you guys are on about means this to me.
Get the best level player you can, who turned to coaching 10 years ago, say, put the other activities lower on the list of priorities for the time being, especially while having coaching, then when you are satisfied with your progress, go catch up on the other stuff.
Hey, fellas squash players are very single minded people in the main, and high achievers do get caught up, but that is good stuff. In fact some say black/white!
Every time you take on a new objective something has to suffer for a while, so that is life.  DO IT

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Offended ? I am not sure where you got that idea from, envy more like it

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Hey, Viper,
let me answer your post, espacially "I can not find the time to hit balls 10hrs a week like someone else said they did" part as it was me who wrote that I spend around 10 hrs a week on court. Believe me, man, squash is not my primary job or I DO NOT make any money of it, it;s just a hobby, but it did turn into addiction. So, I am trying to manage my time the way that allows me to practice, take lessons and participate in tournaments of squash. Mind you, I do play football as well, sometimes I attend joga classes, cycling, visiting fitness centre. But on top of that I do my regular job, I do travel a lot, I care for my family as well.
And as yoiu said, i want to become very good player and i started late, so I decided to accelerate my learning by taking regular lessons and trating squash as serious as it's possible, with all the dedication and approach of proffesional player. I felt I have to reply to you as I felt a bit offend with your words and i believe it was not your intention.

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What is holding me up ?

The biggest impediment is time, and this is one of the reasons I will take a lesson, to try and speed up my performance via a coach in combination with practice.

I can not find the time to hit balls 10hrs a week like someone else said they did, well I probably could but I also ski seriously and play golf seriously and run and cycle and run a business and sleep, etc, etc - you get the idea.

So I have found over the years I was able to accelerate my skiing ability greatly by taking private lessons, same with golf, and I am certain when I say these 2 sports ARE the most difficult sports to become good at, much harder than squash I believe, mostly because squash's "terrain " never changes whereas every run and every hole is different and different again 5 min later when the conditions change.

There is no replacement for simple practice but if squash is anything like golf and skiing (and I believe it  is, as it too is technical) being shown correct technique by a "high" quality instructor will speed my progression measurably.

Something I have always done in skiing in particular is I make sure I get an instructor well above my level and as advanced as I can lay my hands on, to the point of over stating my ability, I have been caught out before and given ski instructors little stronger than I am.

From what I read about the requirements of level 1 squash coaching this is a real possibility.

I have a strong technique, I am fit and I understand the subtle side of the game very well, like golf and skiing I will become a "good" player, sorry I am a good player now but I want to become a very good player and I am too busy to take years to achieve it.

A few regular inputs from a very good coach combined with as many hours of solo court practice as I can muster and I am confident I will get there.

I will update you on my journey, I think I am onto the right coach as we speak.

 

 

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Viper - Squash Aust will be able to supply you with a list of PSCAA members both Level 1 and 2, all of which would have kept updating and have insurance.  In fact your NSW Association will have some details as well. 

• Leverl 3 is in the making. 
• There are a couple of High Performance Coaches in Aust
• Viper I would get the list (ask for their experience too) and sus out the names on it.
• So Viper, my next question is what is holding you up? Technique, fitness, tactics, mental?  What do your experienced team mates say, especially those who are older and sliding down the scale.

Soon in squashgamegold we will have evaluation sheets that can be used to assess your matches and set goals if that is of any use.
I was waiting for Ray to comment but he is so far silent.

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Also from what I read there is 3 levels of coach.

Level 1 Which is a basic, a suitable to teach beginners

Level 2 For teaching good level/ strong club players

Level 3 For who ?

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1. I have been playing on and off a good few years.

2. Strong, at least 7 on both.

3. No idea

4. At least a dozen

5. At least a dozen

I am very technical in all sports I play so I understand technique well, having never had a lesson I will try to keep it very focused and narrow in its scope, in my experience with other sports too many new instructions can be a folly.

 

 

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Yes Viper the coach idea is good, and it is hard for me to give proper advice before knowing a few more things:

• 1.How long have you been playing?
• 2.How do you consider your technique (forehand and backhand drive) on a scale of 1-10?
• 3.Do you have the correct grip?
• 4.How many continuous forehand shots can you hit down the forehand wall within half a metre of the side wall? Likewise for backhand.?
• 5. How many continuous shots can you hit from the backwall to the front wall that rebound to the back  wall?

If you can do the above fairly competently I would say one lesson will tune up some of the things that bother you, particularly errors, body positioning, etc. 
If you have played for ten years, say, and cannot do the above I think one lesson will just confuse you more than anything.  I would try to stretch the budget out a bit further to say ten lessons, if possible.
Then you will need to practice three times a week as well to do justice to it. 
Oh, and by the way those 8 questions will probably take up about 30 mins of your lesson so I would limit those questions, or just leave it to the Coach to decide.
There is no harm to give a lesson a go in any case of course but I would not like you to be disappointed as old habits die hard if there are any major changes to be made.
Ray will no doubt have some ideas on this too so you sure will have enough to think about.

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